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The Cowboys have made a move to help solidify their depth at the cornerback position by trading for Cincinnati Bengals cornerback, Bene Benwikere.
The #Cowboys have traded a late-round conditional pick for #Bengal CB Bene Benwikere, source said. Some depth there.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2017
Adding to this: It's a conditional 6th-round pick in 2019 going from the #Cowboys to the #Bengals for Benwikere, source said. https://t.co/W0sktAc0RC
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 2, 2017
The 25-year old CB was selected in the fifth-round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers were high on Benwikere as GM Dave Gettlemen traded away a 5th- and 7th-rounder to move up to select him.
He’s spent three seasons in Carolina where he has played in 27 games, but started only 14 of them. He has two career picks and three fumble recoveries to his short resume. As a rookie, he started two postseason games during the Panthers' Super Bowl run in 2015, but wasn’t able to play in the big game after suffering a broken leg.
He was once thought to have a promising career, but after the Panthers were torched by Julio Jones for 300 yards, Benwikere was released. He’s since bounced around the practice squads of Miami, Green Bay, and most recently - Cincinnati. The Bengals have a lot of depth at cornerback with Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Josh Shaw, William Jackson III, and KeiVarae Russell. Since he was a likely roster cut anyway, the Bengals now come away with something in return.
For the Cowboys, they won’t have to concern themselves with him making it through all the other teams in the waiver process (Dallas is 28th). With plenty of compensatory picks coming their way next season, they can afford to use some draft stock to help round out the depth at cornerback this season.